School Holidays

Well, schools over for another term, and we are all glad of a little relaxation. Well, how about just not having to go anywhere in a hurry in the mornings! The term finished with a bang with Niamh finishing off her ancient civilisations studies with a much anticipated "medieval feast". I was not able to be there for the feast, but I helped by creating some "oil painting" artwork of the teachers for the castle and also helped with the decorating. It was looking fantastic too, and from all reports was a wonderful event. I adapted Niamh's Greek Goddess dress to be a medieval dame with some sleeves and change of hairstyle, and it didn't look too bad even if I say so myself! The kids all did well on their report cards and there was especially high praise for both the girls on their instrument work. Now we can relax and take a breather before hitting the downhill run to the fete next term, along with birthdays and new babies! I can't remember if I mentioned before but I am going to be a aunty to two new babies this year! I am so excited! The first is my sister due in August and then my brother and his wife due in November. The kids are really excited too. We all love babies to play with! I am gearing up for some great classes at the shop too and my photography is doing well too. Busy on all fronts there. We are now on the look out for a new car (a second car to boot! the first time in over 10 year we will be a two car family). I am a little excited about this as the new car will primarily be my run about for photo shoots. I am leaning towards something cool like a Toyota Yarris or Mazda 2 or something similar. I have been scrapping too. I am still having so much fun playing with my new found passion of inks and stamping. I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of some Dark Room Door stamps into the shop too, can't wait to play with those! So here are a couple of pages, trying to scrap some older photos and use up some of the many patterned papers and embellishments that I seem to own! I have just recently seen a great video tutorial on making some flowers that I can't wait to try so keep a look out for that. But for now, so long and thanks for stopping by. Katie

Phew....

That is about all I can say to sum up how I am feeling at the moment! Finally I can have a breather after a week of busy, busy, busy! Last week saw me helping Scrapbook City prepare for the Scrapbook Convention held over the long weekend just passed. It was pretty intense. Getting samples done, sorting out demo stuff and then helping set up the stand. It is pretty interesting to see just how empty and bare the convention centre looks with stands half created and filled and one big wall open to the air outside. But come opening day it all looked fantastic. It was such a busy first day. I had the pleasure of demonstrating all things to do with Distress Inks and Alcohol Inks, and I don't think I was able to lift my head up or move from my table for the first few hours of being there. I was constantly talking and showing, it was my tummy grumbling that informed me I needed to stop for a break. But it was all great fun. I just love sharing my enjoyment and knowledge with others so they too can share in the fun of these products. I must have been doing all right too because most of my products sold out or close to it! I know that Leisa and Kerri are pretty pleased with how it all went! So now that is all over I can take a moment to stop and remember who my family is and get back into normal routines. But not for too long! I am now working every Tuesday at the shop with the idea of doing more demos and also basic classes on all these techniques. And on top of that I now work for a photography studio! So that will keep me busy too. I guess that means I am not really a stay at home mum any more. Sad in a way, it happened a lot quicker than I was expecting, but I am working in areas that I love so I have no complaints. I have some work to share too. Some samples I have done for Scrapbook City to demonstrate the Tim Holtz products and a page for the June Out of the Hat challenge. These first three are layouts using the great new Basics range from Basic Grey. They are perfect to use with Distress Inks and the border stickers and rub-on's are great, and whats even better are the prices! So I did one girly kind of page so you can see that all things Distress don't have to be grungy! And I played with the Tim Holtz masks, alterations dies and stamps, and now that we have the distress embossing folders in I will be playing with those too! Happy Happy Joy Joy!! LOL! This next page is the Out of the Hat June challenge. The criteria for this month are:

1. More than three photos 2. Mixed alpha title 3. Doodling and staples

I just love the way my page turned out, and yes I managed to incorporate inks and stamps into this too. Just a little obsessed, I know! Over the long weekend while I was slaving away...I mean doing demos, and Andrew was busy, Mum took the kids on a long train trip to visit my brother. Now I would like to point out that obsession runs in the family. With me it is inks and stamps (all pretty harmless I think), but for my brother it is Land Rovers! He has about four (I think). Anyway, he got out the old series one and let the kids all have a drive!! Hilarious, they all had so much fun and couldn't stop talking about it! So here is Erin having a drive. I added a filter to give the "old world" effect that goes with the vintage of the car! I will definitely be scrapping these photos soon. And last of all, a card. I have been doing cards a little more lately. Especially since discovering the Hero Arts stamps, Copic Markers and Jennifer McGuire's blog! It is all so much fun, and all I can say is lucky I work for a scrapbook shop, I think most of what I earn ends up back in their pockets! This card was coloured using copic markers, and I resisted them as long as I could, but in the end it was futile. And now both the girls want pens too! Ok, that is probably enough for now. Lets hope I have a little more time on my hands over the next few weeks. Thanks for stopping by. Katie